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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. degree — temperature
  4. file — a document
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. staff — a stick
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cap — a hat
  10. degree — from a university
  11. staff — employees
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cap — a lid
  14. game — a match
  15. staff — employees
  16. file — a line of people
  17. hand — help
  18. file — a tool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. degree — an amount
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pit — a hole
  24. pit — in a race

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com